Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

11. CORNERED

Another encounter with Mathias left me speechless. Somehow, I forced my legs to move and carry me to the table where I sat down, wishing I could simply disappear. You made a mistake. That was what he said. A costly mistake.

Although my mind was racing like a river that rushes into the embrace of the sea, I was unable to put together a coherent sentence. Opal did not have such problems.

"That was a threat!" she said quietly but angrily. "That guy is threatening you! I should go after him and give him a piece of my mind! I would... if he weren't so big and scary."

She looked around and suddenly her face lit up with a smile. There, by the window, stood Headmaster August speaking to Professor Fortius.

"Maybe I can't give him what he deserves, but there is someone who can," Opal said. She was about to stand up when Nia pulled her back.

"Do you want to attract everybody's attention?" she whispered.

I leaned over the table. "Both of you, stop. It was my fault. I wasn't attentive enough."

"Stop blaming yourself for everything," Opal opposed. "It's not your fault when someone behaves like a horse's... rear end. I was there, remember? You were just walking. Since when is that a crime?"

"I have to agree with Opal on this one," Nia said.

"Thank you!" Opal looked at Nia and got up. ''Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

Nia grabbed her by the arm. "Not so fast, little Opal. This will require a certain dose of subtlety. Something you desperately lack."

"Don't call me little, you overgrown pixie!" Opal pulled her arm from Nia's grip while her eyes shot darts towards the blonde fairy that dared not only to touch her, but also insult her.

"I rest my case," Nia said and left us. She glided through the crowd, reaching the headmaster within moments. Without stopping, she whispered something as she passed him by. Elegantly avoiding others, she returned to us. I could've used some of her grace earlier that day. It could have saved me all the trouble I found myself in.

"It's done," she said with a smile.

"What did you say to him?" I asked apprehensively.

"I just implied that not all issues have been resolved, that some of them have just been temporarily shoved under the rug, and that someone has now taken the rug to the cleaners."

"What!?" Opal shouted. After I gave her a nudge, she lowered her voice. "How is he supposed to pick up anything from that mess of words? He's just human, you know," she added in undertone. After hearing what she said, I nudged her again. I shared that information with her in confidence, hoping she would keep it to herself.

"Oh, he picked up what needed to be picked up, believe me." Nia's eyes as blue as the summer sky twinkled when a crooked smile touched them. "Despite his human origin, he is a very intuitive person."

His 'human origin' was only news to me and Opal, apparently. I peeked at him and Professor Fortius. Our PE teacher was a head taller than the headmaster. He slouched a bit while they spoke. It wasn't difficult to see that they found a new topic of the conversation. It was next to impossible to ignore the looks they would cast in our direction every now and then. Considering it all, it seemed that Nia had every right to be confident.

After a rather quiet lunch, we went to Ms. Cyan's classroom, but as soon as I sat down, Professor Fortius came knocking at the door. He asked for me, saying that he wished to speak with me privately. I had no choice but to follow him.

He led me to his office and opened the door for me to enter. The moment my foot stepped over the threshold, a person sitting on one of the chairs in front of the desk propelled himself across the room.